Holy Spirit Pt 4

The speaker is discussing the importance and meaning of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 verse 38. He emphasizes the need for repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for all whom the Lord calls, as explained in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 14. The teaching focuses on following the biblical way of salvation and understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in this process, urging listeners to have an open mind and heart while studying the Scriptures. What a beautiful morning the divine nature has given us to gather in this place to proclaim our reverence and our praise toward his matchless name. I know that for our members this scripture reading that's on the screen might be getting a bit monotonous. This is the fourth Sunday in a row that we have read this, but I've been using it to lead our thoughts as we unlock much of the mystery about the mysterious one among the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. This is the fourth lesson that we've had now upon the Holy Spirit, and you may recall if you were with us from the beginning that I had an introductory lesson when I brought forth 25 different biblical names that the scriptures revealed to us about the one we know as the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost, and then we talked about the relationship that he shared with his father and the son. And we also talked about what he did for us, that he did a lot of things for us as humanity as he interacted with us as we live here upon the earth, and that chart there where it talks about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, but the Spirit is not the Father, the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit. And then we ventured into the second lesson, and we talked about the work of the Holy Spirit in the creative process and how involved he was as he adorned the heavens. We also talked about how he used to speak with the ancient men, and he would reveal to them the message of God, the revelation of God, their various hunches or dreams or visions, and they would have these things written down in books, and we have many of those things in the Old Testament scriptures, and we also talked about how he was very involved in the life of Jesus. As a matter of fact, Jesus got here as a result of him being transported into the womb of Mary, and he was involved in the ministry of Jesus as Jesus, as the scripture says from Luke, that he's full of the Spirit. And then we talked about his involvement, especially in John chapter 14 last week, as Jesus had promised his chosen apostles, and he told them that they were going to be involved in a great work and that it wouldn't be too much longer that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and they would receive power of the Holy Spirit to do the commission or the mission that Jesus had designed for them to do. Now, if you're walking in here today, this is part number four, and these other three lessons, they are available up on our website, thewestmobilechurch.com. You can go back and listen to those lessons in their entirety. I'd encourage you to do that, and I hope that the remaining five in this series will also be up on the website for your listening pleasure and for your learning of the Holy Scriptures. What I intend to do this morning is what I call a deep dive. If you came for an emotional sermon, you needed to be here for the first lesson this morning. This morning is much more of a teaching lesson, as I explain the statement that is here upon the screen in Acts chapter 2 and in verse 38. There's a great deal of confusion about the gift of the Holy Spirit. The charismatic movement has thoroughly abused this particular line that Peter had uttered in Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, and I suggest to you that there's a lot of confusion about the application and the meaning of this description that is given in Acts 2.38, among the Lord's people, among churches of Christ, and what I'm going to ask of you is an open mind and open heart, especially an open Bible. Now, of course, when I say open Bible, I realize that may occur upon your cell phone, and that's perfectly fine, or your laptop, that's perfectly fine, but as I have been in the tendency of saying it's perfectly fine to have those things open, but no angry birds or candy crush. If you don't mind, let it be for all things spiritual in reading the Holy Scriptures. What was Peter telling the multitude when he had made that statement at the end of the thirty-eighth verse of Acts chapter 2? And we're going to talk about that today in a deep-dive sense. It's important to recognize that the Holy Spirit had orchestrated this grand historical event that we call Acts the second chapter. If you were with us last week, you recall that in the study that Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would baptize them not many days from now, and it would just be those individuals, and that would assist them in making known the grand and glorious gospel message that we still love today in the twenty-first century. Acts chapter 2 was the moment that the great promise from Jesus for the Holy Spirit took place. In Acts chapter 2, verses 1-4, we have read that passage many times, that the Holy Spirit came down upon them, and they received all types of power, for they were able to speak in tongues as the Spirit had given them utterance. In verse 12 of the second chapter of the book of Acts, that multitude that had gathered, they were all amazed, and they were perplexed. They were saying, whatever could this mean, or what does this mean? Well, there's a purpose for this to occur, and that purpose was, as you read there in verse 21, the end of the prophecy that Peter brought up from Joel, that it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and so the purpose is revealed. Salvation is now available through the Christ, and Peter was going to let them know how that occurred as he began to talk about the great King David, that David, yes, he died, he's in his tomb, but Jesus is no longer in the tomb, that he has been exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, and there in verse 36 he cried out that the one that you have murdered or crucified, he's the Christ, he is our Lord, he is our Savior, and in verse 37 they recognized the truth of that statement, and they cried out with their reaction and expressed their guilt and their desperate plea, what can we do in order to be spared from certain death? And then we have Acts chapter 2 and verse 38 revealed. We look at Acts chapter 2 and verse 38 in its fullness, I want you to recognize there's two points of emphasis that we gather from Peter's discussion beginning in verse 38. It involves two very simplistic commands. I have them there upon the screen for you. When Peter said, Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. Now this is no surprise. These things we as members of churches of Christ talk about all the time. We talk about them in despise of what the religious world around us might say about them, so these things are well known, and simply they're the fulfillment of the Great Commission. We have the three examples of the Great Commission given down there on the chart from Luke or Mark or Matthew. There in Luke's account, he's basically telling them what the history was soon to come, that repentance and remission of sin would be preached by his authority in Jerusalem. That's the way Luke describes it. When you go to Mark, Mark tells us that Jesus had directed the eleven that they were to preach the gospel, commanding the necessity of belief and being baptized in order to be saved. Well, that's what Peter's doing in this as well. In Matthew's account, he's talking about make disciples from every nation. It was going to start in Jerusalem, but he says you do it by baptizing individuals by the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and so there's no getting around this. One must believe that Jesus is the Christ, and then based upon that belief, one must repent and be baptized in order to have their sins, even the sin of murder, removed or be forgiven or be remitted by the blood of Jesus Christ. And dear friend, recognize that any other way is not the way of the New Testament. Any other way is not the biblical way for you to have your sins forgiven. If you've attempted to do it any other way, and denominations offer all kinds of differing ways, sad to say you need to recognize you are still steeped in your sins and you are not prepared to die. You have to do it the way the inspired writer tells us to do it. And so we preach this all the time. There's hardly a sermon that goes by or a Sunday that goes by that you don't hear this description because it's about us being saved from our sins. But usually when we talk in this, we have a tendency of just stopping right there, don't we? We usually do. I admit that. And one of the reasons that a lot of times that we end up stopping right there is because this is considerably complex in the meaning of what Peter is trying to really bring forth to our understanding. And so as we look at this text, we read that Peter went on to say after he said that you need to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sin, he says, and you will receive the gifted Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. You know, a lot of times to help us better understand things, we have to flip it over. So let's start at the end. When we think about this, as many as our Lord our God will call. Who is this promise to? Who is the gift of the Holy Spirit promised to? Well, it's promised to all whom our Lord may call. If you would, would you open your Bible with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2? I briefly mentioned this in our Bible study this morning, but I want you to read with me 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and in verse 14. He says in this passage to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom has the Lord called all those that can hear the gospel that was preached by the apostles of our Lord and Savior. That means everybody, and that's exactly what Paul understood in Romans chapter 1 and in verse 16. He said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And so as you're thinking about the apostle Peter, he's telling us that this is to you, to the present audience, like me standing before you, a present audience. And it's to your children that would be the next generation of the Jews that had been growing up. And he goes on to say, and to all who are afar off. Now that's not just a throwaway phrase. I think that phrase has merit. If you look with me in Ephesians chapter 2, we can know exactly whom the New Testament is speaking about those who would be far off. Ephesians chapter 2, beginning in verse 11, he's talking to the Christians in the city of Ephesus, and they had a very Gentile or Greek origin. In verse 11, therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Verses 11 and 12, we have no trouble recognizing who these people are. They're Gentiles. They're not Jews. They were not under the law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets. They were afar off from the nation of Israel. But these individuals who once were considered to be far off have been made now near by the blood of Christ. And so the promise is to you, all of you in this audience, as Peter is talking to the Jews gathered on the day of Pentecost, to your children, again Jews, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. In other words, this gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, it's universal. It's for everybody. It's for that generation, the generation after that, the generation after that, and it doesn't matter if you are Jew or Gentile. Those who would properly comply with the two conditions that the Apostle Peter had given, these individuals will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now I'm just, I want to drop that there. It's important. I'm going to pick this back up later in a few minutes, but I want you to recognize also that as we consider this topic, and I think this is why this is so difficult for us to comprehend, is because the gift of the Holy Spirit can be explained as the Spirit supplying supernatural power. It truly can be, and I'm setting a course to make sure that we recognize that. There are two differing applications concerning the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I intend to prove it as we go through. There's several places in the New Testament that employs a figure of speech that's called metonymy. Metonymy. Let me say it again. Metonymy. Saying, what is metonymy? I've never heard of such a thing known as metonymy. There's a figure of speech that can be best defined with this very simple explanation. One thing is stated, but another thing closely associated with that is implied. One thing is stated, but something very closely associated with that is implied. You know, a lot of times, figures of speech, they're really just nothing more than application of our common sense, and they happen so often that we very seldom see them when they come. It's just like the moment we hear them, we just immediately recognize the figure they're trying to tell us. Let me give you an example of this. If you turn your Bible to Luke chapter 16, coming from the lips of Jesus. In Luke chapter 16, talking about that story of the rich man and Lazarus, that they both die and they end up in Hades, or the realm of the departed spirit. One ends up in a good place, one ends up in a bad place. I think we know the story. If we begin reading in verse 27, Lazarus in the bad place, in torment, as he's talking to Abraham, said, then he said, I beg you, therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house. That's Lazarus. While five brothers said he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophet, let them hear them. I'm here to categorically tell you, they did not have Moses and the prophet. Jesus just said they have Moses and the prophet. No, they didn't. They have the writings of Moses and the prophet. Oh, yeah, obvious, Ken. See, a lot of times, figures of speech are so obvious, a lot of times we just miss them when they happen. And I want to suggest to you, I think that happens a lot when we're thinking about the Holy Spirit. That that idea that the Holy Spirit, or that name is given, the pronoun, the personal name is given, when actually it's in reference to something very closely associated with him that really is the target figure. And so as you look at that understanding, I think you can grasp it. You probably have heard someone say, I see your father in you. Oh, no, you don't see my father in me. Literally, you can't do that. My father can't literally be in you. Oh, yes, you got a widow's peak or you kind of talk like your dad or you wear your mustache the same way. Something like that. You know, that's the idea, something very closely associated with my dad. And you use that expression. We can understand how that plays out in regular common sense language. Now, let's think about the spirit for just a moment. Open your Bible with me to John chapter 20. The Son of God is raised from the grave. And this is basically he's presenting himself to them on the resurrection day. And in John chapter 20 and in verse 19, said the same day of the evening, the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them, we know who this is. Jesus said to them again, peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. That is a loaded statement. First of all, he's breathing on them. And the concept of breathing, that's where we get the Greek word spirit, pneuma or breath. So he breathes on them, just introduce it in a figurative fashion, and he encourages them to receive the spirit because they've got an important message, mission that he's sending them out to do. Jesus said a whole lot with just a few words in this text, and they ended up receiving the spirit, right? When you go to Acts chapter two and in verse four, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. They received the spirit, but I want to suggest to you, my friend, that they didn't literally receive him. What they received were the miraculous powers that Jesus promised that they were going to receive when they would be immersed or baptized in the Holy Spirit. So we're seeing how this metonymy works. The reception of the spirit would be the reception of the power that the Holy Spirit was going to grant to each of them. If you're not confident about that, let's go a little bit further in the book of Acts and see this play out more. In Acts chapter eight, it's the story when the gospel went down to Samaria with Philip the evangelist. Simon the sorcerer, he was convinced that the things Philip was doing were indeed true miracles, and he took heed to the message Philip preached, and he was baptized in verse 13, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. Beginning in verse 14, it said, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had fallen on none of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon's fall, and through the laying on the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, Your money perish with you, because you thought the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray God, that perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. I'll stop there. I read a couple of extra verses. I hope you don't mind. But this is an important text of Scripture. Simon knew that the Holy Spirit was received by the laying on of the apostles' hands. That's why he went to Peter. He understood that this receiving of the Holy Spirit was not literal. He knew that by the receiving of the Holy Spirit, he was going to receive the powers of the Holy Spirit. It's important to understand when he talks in this fashion. And Peter said that this reception of power is indeed the gift of the Holy Spirit. Notice what he said there. He said in verses, because you thought that the gift of God, as we've been talking about receiving the Holy Spirit, that the gift of God could be purchased with money. So, the reception of the Spirit was actually the receiving of the powers of the Spirit, which was actually receiving the gift of God, or the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, as we continue to go through Scriptures, we see this continuing in Acts chapter 10. In Acts chapter 10, and in verse 42, this is when the Holy Spirit baptized the Gentiles, Cornelius and his family. Peter is up preaching. He's up there telling them about the Christ, and as a result, in verse 44 of Acts chapter 10, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. In verse 44, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. What did that do? It allowed them to speak in tongues, magnify God with the power of speaking in tongues. In verse 45, Luke, the inspired writer, wrote, This is the gift of the Holy Spirit being poured out. That's what Luke said. I think Luke has the ability and the accuracy to say that correctly. In verse 47, the Apostle Peter says that they had received the Holy Spirit just as we have. This gift is receiving the Spirit in the same manner in which the twelve Apostles received the Spirit in Acts chapter 2, in verses 1 through 4. That the Holy Spirit came down upon them, alighted upon them, and they received power to be able to do these miraculous, wonderful things. The Holy Spirit fell on them, power was given unto them. Now, let's add another variable to this in Acts chapter 19. In Acts chapter 19, we learn about those who were disciples of Jesus, but all they knew was the baptism of John. So, let's begin reading in verse 1. In Acts chapter 19, in verse 1, it happened while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus, and finding some disciples, he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, Into what then were you baptized? So they said, Into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues, and they prophesied. You have disciples that learned of Jesus from Apollos, but they didn't know about the baptism of Jesus. Did you receive the Spirit when you believed? Nope. That's what they all declared. We don't know about the Holy Spirit. We don't know about the work of the Holy Spirit. So, after they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle laid his hands upon them. They received the Spirit like that which Simon wanted. Simon wanted to have that ability. How did they receive the Spirit? Paul laid his hands upon them, and then they were given the ability to have the supernatural power working ability, which was a gift that was provided by the Holy Spirit. So, when we think about this power, we think about this gift, we think about this supernatural miracle working ability, all of these things are flowing together. I do not deny this fact. I just preached it, that the gift of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament can be properly discerned as a reception of a variety of supernatural powers, or as we look closer, the distribution by the Spirit of spiritual gifts. Yet, this gift package for the ability to work supernatural gifts like miracles were going to be very shortly lived in the church, and they're not available for us today. These powers that we are discussing right now are not universal in their nature. Now, I know making that statement, I'm going to have to prove it. Lord willing, you come the next two Sunday mornings, and I'll do my best to prove that point. But today, I want you to understand that what we're talking about here, the receiving of the supplying of the supernatural gifts, it is referred to in the Scriptures as the gift of the Holy Spirit. It truly is. And so we have to think, how is this being used in Acts chapter 2? That's our discussion. What is Peter trying to communicate to these people in Acts chapter 2 and in verse 38? What he's trying to tell us is that what we are going to be given is a far better gift. As a matter of fact, it's the best gift that God can give man. It is the gift of everlasting life. And sometimes when we have very difficult and complex and controversial issues, sometimes the simplest explanation is the best explanation. And I think as we continue to go through this sermon that you'll see that. In John chapter 4, we have no doubt that salvation is spoken as a gift. In John chapter 4 and in verse 10, remember Jesus saying to the woman at the well, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who sent you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. And he goes on to describe this living water as that which springs up a well to eternal life. The gift of God is living waters that spring up to a well of eternal life. Think about the way Paul speaks of it in Ephesians the second chapter. In Ephesians the second chapter and in verse 8. You've heard that passage, you've probably heard it all your life. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that it's not of yourself, it's the gift of God. And if you drop down to verse 7 of chapter 4, he says, But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. We are learning here this great gift. And how many times have we read this passage in Romans chapter 6 as Paul is finishing up the grand argument that he's making when he says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's vital to understand that the gift of God can be and often is a gift which comes from God. And that it's not God himself. Even though it may be written like it would be God himself. It would be easier to understand, and I think it is that way often in scripture, that it is a gift that is delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not the Holy Spirit wrapped up inside a type of box that you try to chew and devour. It's not some concept of transubstantiation like Romanism teaches us when they eat the wafer or the Eucharist. And you literally have God entrapped in your body. This is a gift that comes from the hand of a gracious, wonderful God. It is the gift of or from God. Now, I know I need to prove this, and so that's my intention as we continue this morning. I want you to think about the way this is worded in this text. I think it's worded like this specifically. And he says, And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children, to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. You see the little word for there? The word for there serves as a connector. The gift of God for the promise. Very often when it's used in this fashion, it's designed to equate the two. To equate the gift as the promise. The promise is the gift. The gift is the promise. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Holy Spirit. You're saying, Ken, where do we read in the New Testament anywhere about the promise of the Spirit? I'm really glad you asked that question because it's in the book of Galatians. If you'll look there with me in Galatians, the third chapter. And it's spelled out exactly as we might anticipate with what's going on within the context of Acts chapter two. When you look in Galatians chapter three, the Apostle Paul is trying to tell the Christians that it's not about the law of Moses at all. He says, let's go back to Abraham. In Galatians chapter three and in verse eight, he said, for the scripture, for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, in you all the nations shall be blessed. When did that happen? Genesis chapter 12. I mean, going back to the initial promises, the threefold grand promise that God made to Abraham, in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. That was, in essence, preaching the good news about salvation, the blessing that would come through the seed of woman, which we know to be Jesus. Now, when we look there at the law, the law doesn't do that. Justification comes by belief in the seed of the woman. Well, it was going to have to happen in verse 13. The Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it's written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And every week we think about Jesus hanging on that tree, don't we? Every week. But we know why he did it. He did it to save us, to redeem us, right? Why did he do it? Verse, the very next verse, verse 14, see on Galatians 3.14, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive, what? The promise of the Spirit through faith. That the blessings that were promised to Abraham centuries ago, might come upon us by the promise of the Spirit. This is the gift of the Spirit for the promises to you, to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Notice in verse 18, the idea of promise is brought up again. For if the inheritance is of the law, it's no longer a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. And then we drop down to verse 26, and we read these verses very often, don't we? In verse 26, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ and put on Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, there's neither male nor female. For you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you're Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to what? According to the promise. This is a promise that God made to Abraham centuries and centuries ago, and acts to his initiation and the fulfillment of that promise. That's what Peter is speaking about. That even Gentiles inherit this grand and glorious blessing. And so this promise inheritance is for those who are converted to Jesus Christ, they become sons and daughters of Abraham. It was to the Jews. It was to the Jews' children. It is to those who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. This gift, this promise is universal. It was universal for the first century. It's universal for us in the 21st century. That's what we understand. Now let's talk about the mission of the apostles. The two most put out before us apostles, Peter and Paul. They both have the same commission. Now as you have there on the screen, you have the commission that Jesus gave the apostles from the perspective of Peter and the perspective of Paul. But I suggest to you their perspectives are one. Even though the verbiage is different, the perspective is one. And there we've been looking at Acts chapter 2 verses 38 and 39. But then when Paul stands before King Agrippa, he begins to relate to King Agrippa what Jesus told him his mission was going to be. And I want to suggest to you the things that are talked about in Acts 2, 38 and 39 are described in Acts chapter 26 and verse 18 from the lips of Paul to King Agrippa. If you will look here, both Peter and Paul had the same mission to command repentance. They were to command repentance among the sinful. Well, that's what Paul's mission was to open up their eyes in order to turn them. Turning. Turning from darkness to light. Turning from the power of the devil to God. That's repentance. I don't think you can hardly find a better definition of what repentance is than what is talked about in that passage of Scripture. And as you continue to look through that Scripture, you see that you must repent. Every one of you be baptized by the authority of Jesus for the remission or the forgiveness of your sins. That's what Peter said, but that's what Paul was informing Agrippa. I need to turn people from darkness to light so they can receive the forgiveness of their sins. And notice the third component. And you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you, to your children, to all who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. And he says, and what's going to happen? Great blessing, a good grandness of gifts and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. And if you're thinking about those things, turn back to where we were a while ago in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, let me read verse 13 along with verse 14. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13, Paul says this to the Christians in Thessalonica. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I should have put those two verses up there with it. Because all the elements that we've been describing are in those verses. The Holy Spirit had a work setting us apart from a sinful world as a result of those who would repent and those who would be baptized because they have heard the message of the gospel eliciting faith and obedience. And what are they going to receive? Oh, man, they get to receive the grand and glorious inheritance. The obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful that is. You've been listening really well. Thank you. This has been really deep. Can I lighten it up just a minute? So you've got this. You can go back through. You can go back and listen to it again on the computer when we put it up on the web. But let's just get back to the matter at hand. Let's just get back to the present text. The current situation we're reading about in Acts, the second chapter. And I think now that we've been thinking about these things for a while, I think it becomes quite easy, the undeniable argument proving that this is the best gift available. The gift of eternal life. How do I know? Context, context, context, context. What's going on with the text? What is the subject matter? The subject matter is a discussion about salvation. That's what the context is all about. That's why Peter pulls out Joel 2. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. It's all about being saved. And these people desperately needed it. Why did they desperately needed it? Peter just called them murderers. Would you like to be called a murderer? These people were some of the most devout religious people on the face of the earth. These are the individuals that would make religious pilgrimages to worship. These are the people that probably lived and died by the law of Moses. I'm confident of that. If you're going to find someone devout and dedicated, the scriptures he would refer in Acts chapter 2 as there were devout Jews from all over the world there. He called them murderers. You know why? Because they were. These were the very people that were there in the audience saying to Pontius Pilate, crucify him, crucify him. Let his blood be upon us and upon our children thinking that he was a blasphemer. Jesus was not a blasphemer. What they were doing was blasphemy. And they were the ones that prodded Pontius Pilate to say, I'm going to wash my hands of the blood of this innocent and just person you all see to it. Yep, let his blood be on us and our children. And Peter is saying, his blood is all over you right now. You are guilty. Guilty of murder. You have crucified him. And they were cut to the heart. They recognized what Peter was telling them was absolutely true. Yeah, I was standing in that line, Peter. I was there. You didn't see me back there in the 18th row. But I was back there shouting, crucify him. You got me. I'm just dead to right. Is God going to send a lightning bolt and zap me out of existence? I deserve that. But he's saying, but they are yelling in basically unison to Peter and the apostles, is there anything that's possible that we can do to escape certain death and damnation? Because we deserve that. Anything that can be done. Anything possible. Peter said, yeah. Something possible. Repent. Let every one of you be baptized. You can escape the wrath and death sentence you really deserve. If you'll do that, you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Something that has been promised for centuries, by the way, not only to you, not only to your children, but to all who are far off. As many as the Lord, our God will call. And notice that the text never shifts from that. Go to Acts chapter 2 and verse 40. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, be saved. This text is all about being saved from our sins. Being saved from losing our souls. Being saved from being cast into the devil's hell that all of us rightly deserve. Be saved. Save yourself from this perverse generation. From this corrupt generation. Well, thankfully, they were listening very closely to Peter. And they got the answer that they were looking for. Is there anything we can do? Yep, there is. You can do this and this. And you'll be saved. You can do this and this. You'll receive the promise or the gift of the Holy Spirit that had been given as far back as Abraham. The promise of a sanctified inheritance. The promise to where there's no longer going to be Jew or Gentile. No longer going to be Greek. There's no longer going to be a Scythian, a slave, or a free. Not even a male or female. We're all going to be in one wonderful saved body of Christ Jesus. Be saved or save yourselves. I want you to notice that the focus of this assembly has nothing to do with them coming up and knocking on Peter and saying, man, I'd like to have that gift of being able to speak in tongues. Hey, how about a miracle? I'd like to be able to do that miraculous stuff. That's not what they're concerned with in this text. They're concerned with the sin that's on their soul and what that's going to wreak in their future. And so as we read this glorious text, it still holds as true for us today as it did then. This is a universal gift. This same passage of Scripture has the same power today. If you are guilty of even the most heinous sin like murder and your heart is cut, think about what Peter said. Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name or by the authority of Jesus Christ for the remission and the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise that's to you, to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord has called. And by preaching the Gospel, God is calling you now. He's calling you to obey the Gospel. He's calling you to salvation. He's calling you to have your sins washed away by the power of His precious Son's blood. He's calling you. Don't wait for somebody to whisper in your ear. Don't wait for an angel to come along. Don't wait for Jimmy Swagger to sing you a song. You are being persuaded by the power of these words to obey the Gospel of Jesus because He wants to wash away your sins in the power of the blood. You can be saved this day. And join the ranks of these great people in Acts chapter 2, the ranks of the congregation here in Westmobile. We'd invite you. Obey the Gospel. Take advantage of this. Your soul's on the line. Be saved. Be saved today. Come to the front. Take care of your needs as David now leads us together in this song.